Odyssey
by CassieMaria
Summary: ABANDONED:Squall & Rinoa are two teenagers, who are trying to figure out what love is. In a way they may not understand, but they're journey to the future is something to think of.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As she made her way to her dorm, the halls of Balamb Garden were occupied with the students who were just released from class. Rinoa was so tired that she was surprised she could even walk as she was. All she wanted was to get to her room for a well deserved night of rest.

* * *

Throughout the day Squall Leonhart couldn't focus on anything…but her. He mentally scolded himself for not being aware of what was going on during class, he didn't pay attention to anything today. He didn't write a single thing down. He was off in a different world and no matter how hard he tried she was the only thing that would remain in his head and heart.

When he walked out of his last class he decided just to go straight to his dorm. As he glanced down the hallway he saw a figure with shoulder length black hair and porcelain skin. She was quite thin. She wore a sky blue hoodie and jeans. In his head Squall tried to figure out who it was. 'No it can't be her.' And yet it was. Squall was always nervous around Rinoa, so he thought it would be better to stay away.

He stopped for a moment or so, as he tried to stay back as far as possible. When he finally saw her make a left, he felt it was safe to speed up. After about three minutes Squall Reached his room. Right when he closed the door he couldn't help but think 'You're so pathetic! You can't even keep your composure when you're within ten feet of the girl!!'

He flipped the light switch on, and slowly made his way to the bathroom. As he looked at his reflection in the mirror he felt like he had all the stress in the world put on his shoulders.

'She would never fall for a guy like me, she's way too good for me. Rinoa's just not the person who would wanna be w/ me.'

* * *

When Rinoa's head finally hit her pillow she couldn't seem to fall asleep just yet. She tried to relax and think of something peaceful. The first thing that entered her mind was him. Squall would somehow pop into her head no matter what she did or thought about, it would somehow always lead to him.

'Why was I the one who had to like him?' she asked that question everyday and her inquiry always when unanswered.

'Squall would never love someone like me. I'm no one special. I'm just wasting my time thinking about him.' after she finished that though she drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next morning rinoa met up with her best friends quistis and selphie. She found them in the quad. As usual selphie was bouncing around, rinoa always wondered if selphie would ever run out of energy. Quistis on the other hand was observing the white puffy clouds that rolled across the brilliandt blue sky. When Rinoa was within ten feet of the pair selphie ran up to her and gave her a very tight hug. The shourt girl slightly through rinoa off balance. Ater she caught her breath she returned her friend's gesture and said "I love you too selphie!"

"I love you more!!" selphie exclaimed.

After a minute or so selphie let go and walked over to quistis with rinoa following behind.

"Hey sweetie," quistis started.

"hey," Rinoa replied

Quistis outstretched her arms and pulled her friend into an embrace. When they both let go of each other rinoa looked up at her friend.

"Are you okay hun?" quistis concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" rinoa answered.

"Well you just don't seem like yourself."

"I'm fine, I'm just a little tired."

"Okay…well you know you can talk to me if you need to."

"Yeah, I know you're always here for me."

Quistis nodded and both girls turned their attention to Selphie who's interest was occupied by two little squirrels scampering about, when they took refuge in a small green bush.

Rinoa snuck up behind the petite brunnete and poked her in the sides of her stomach. She jumped up with a squeal and turned around.

"Hey, what was that for?!"

"Umm…it's kind of time to go to class."

"…Oh…I don't wanna go there!"

"Um, who does?"

"Good point!"

The three girls made their way to class. When they entered the room selphie strayed from the group and went to say hi to her boyfriend Irvine.

Irvine was sitting on the far right side of the room to his left sat zell and squall hi best friends.

With selphie gone the other two girls decided to find some place to sit. They sat in the same row of seats as the three boys but a few seats away from them. When rinoa took her seat she rested her head on the palm of her hand. It was a habit of hers that she seemed to do a lot.

Zell glanced over to where the two girls sat and saw rinoa's eyes looking down. "Hey Sef, is Rinoa okay?"

"Uh…I don't know. She said she was fine earlier.""…Okay, well she usually seems happy."

"Oh! I know, I think she said that she was still kinda tired."

"Oh, that's probably what's wrong."

Zell got up from his seat and went over to where rinoa was stitting.

"Hey rin, are you all right?"

Rinoa tilted her head up to meet the blonde spikey haired boy's eyes. "Yeah I'm fine, why?"

"Well you seem sad."

"No, I'm just a little tired."

"Oh, okay. Well can I have a hug?"

"You know you don't need to ask me anymore. You're like an annoying brother I never asked for" Rinoa said playfully.

"Oh that's wonderful. Yes, I do know that, but I feel like asking. Is that alright with you?"

Rinoa cocked up an eye brow, "No, it's no."

"Well too bad, now give me a hug!"

Rinoa rolled her eyes and gave him a hug.

Squall was paying close attention to Zell and Rinoa. He chided himself for being so weak around her. He turned his head just in time. As if on cue, Zell rose from his spot near Rinoa and walked back to his original seat.

When he sat down, Squall seemed to be staring off into space. Zell nudged his arm and Squall nodded in response.

"You alright?"

"Yeah…why?"

"Well you were kind of staring at a wall."

"Oh…I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing of importance."

"Uh-huh sure, I know that's not true."

"It doesn't matter what I was thinking about."

Zell shot him that look that signified that he didn't believe a word Squall was saying.

"I know what he's thinking about." Irvine said aloud.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Squall asked blankly.

"Rinoa."

"I should've known," Zell said.

"W-what?!…How would you know if I was thining about her or not?!" Squall asked trying not to let his voice shake.

"Oh, come on, we're your best friends, and we know how much you like her!" Zell clarified.

"And that look you have in your eyes when you see her, it's the same one you have on your face when you think about her." Irvine added.

"What look?!"

"The one where you seem like you're at peace."

"…Or the one where you seem like you're sad!" Zell chimed in.

"What the hell are you guys talking about? I don't have any of those looks right now!"

Irvine and Zell looked at each other, then simultaneously cocked up an eyebrow.

Finally, zell spoke, "you mean the one the one that's on your face right now doesn't fall under the categories we named?"

"Yeah!" Squall shot back.

Zell turned away from the other two, "Hey selphie, you got a mirror I can borrow for a sec?"

"Yeah." Selphie reached into her brown tote bag and pulled out a square compact mirror, and handed it to Zell.

Zell turned back to his Friends and opened the compact to show Squall's reflection. When Squall saw his reflection in the mirror his widened.

"Whatever. I don't always look like that!"

"Well how would you know? You're not the one who can see your face all the time." Irvine added calmly.

Squall glared at him. How exactly was he supposed to come back from that one?" He figured it would just be best not to say any more about the subject.

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Squall looked at Zell still trying to comprehend what his friend just said to him.

"What?!"

Zell gave him an 'Oh come on, it's not that hard' look, and added a roll of his eyes just before that.

"How exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"Just try to talk to her when she's alone."

"Well whenever she's alone, she's busy."

"You just have an excure for everything don't you?" Zell asked agitatedly.

"Maybe." Squall said cooly.

"Okay fine, just start by saying 'hi' to her, then if you have time try to talk to her."

* * *

"Rinoa, Rinoa!!"

"Huh, what?" Rinoa winced.

"Hun, you really need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Staring off into space."

"What…? I don't do that!"

"Uh-huh sure, what were you doing five minutes ago then?" Selphie asked adding to Quistis's argument.

"Umm…"

A long moment of silence passed.

"Okay fine, I was, I'm sorry okay."

"Rinoa, it's not a crime. I'm just telling you that you do it a lot." Quistis defended.

"Oh…sorry…"

"it's okay, just try to pay attention more." Selphie suggested.

"Uh…okay." Rinoa replied hesitantly.

Okay. Wow, I finally put this up. R&R please. I know there might be errors, I'm extremely busy w/ school but I wanted to get this up. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I'll try to update as soon as I can.

--Cassie :D


	2. Chapter 2

Rinoa entered the training center around 3:00 P.M. on Saturday afternoon. It was well over an hour since she got there, and when she checked her watch it read 4:30. 'I better finish soon'.

* * *

Squall walked through the training center, trying to get around the green foliage the place was filled with. He felt a slight chill run down his spine, he shivered a bit, but he figured it would be better to forget about it.

The young man stopped walking for a moment, and as he did, he heard the sound of panting and hurried footsteps. Squall turned around and saw a young woman coming towards him. Her head was turned, but he still knew who it was. Before she ran into him, he planted his feet on the dirt covered ground, and extended his arms out in front of him. He caught her before she collided into him.

His hands gripped her by her arms. Her entire body was shaking. She could feel the warmth of his palms, through her thin black jacket. She had an idea of who caught her, but she wasn't entirely sure.

When she looked up at him, her terrified ebony eyes met his concerned slate blue ones. A small gasp escaped her lips, but luckily he hadn't noticed.

He was the first to speak. "What's wrong?"

Her bottom lip was trembling, "Uh...T-Rexaur" she bit her lip after she stopped speaking.

"Why exactly are you here alone? You could get hurt!"

"Uhhhmm...well...I could ask you the same question."

He cocked up an eyebrow at her statement.

"Okay fine, I don't have an excuse, I wasn't planning on running into a T-Rexaur alright?"

"Rinoa, I don't think anyone does. And if they do, it will take them forever to find one."

"...Good point."

"Thank you very much. Well do you want to fight at the moment?"

"Not this monster..."

"Well that makes two of us, now follow me."

Squall took her right hand and let her to the secret place in the training center.

* * *

The Secret Place wasn't usually occupied during the day, it was mostly used by students after curfew. When they finally stopped at a certain spot, with a great deal of energy Squall let go of Rinoa's hand.He was surprised he even grabbed her hand in the first place.

She started to look around, it was a nervous habit she had obtained through the years. After a minute or so, she finally said something.

"...So...What's up?"

'aside from my love for you?' "Nothing of importance, for me, that is."

"Oh...I see."

"How have you been?"

"Um...all right, I suppose."

"Are you okay?" He looked directly into her eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine..." she looked down, ashamed of how she was acting. 'Just be yourself, it's not like he's a monster'.

"So...Do you care to tell me exactly why you're here alone?"

"Not really." she said innocently.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

She sighed, "Well, I was just trying to get some training done, I wasn't planning on staying in here this long."

"..." He looked at her quizzically.

"...It's my turn to ask you why you're here by yourself."

"Uh...I can stay focused under pressure, and I trained better when I'm alone."

She raised her left brow, and glared at him. "Uh huh, sure."

Squall cast his gaze straight into her eyes, the longer he stared into her eyes, the harder it became for him to look away. Somehow he found the strength to look away, although ever muscle in his body was telling him not to. He dropped his gaze to the ground, he had always been the quiet type, but in someway he felt more comfortable with her than anybody else. And yet there was still some barrier between them, something that was holding him back.

While he was off thinking, Rinoa turned her attention to the beauty of nature. She always loved the outdoors. She could never believe how beautiful nature could be.

Rinoa's entire body was leaning against the wall, her arms were resting over the top of it while she stared at the brilliant blue sky. Squall, on the other hand, had his head down contemplating about what to say.

All of the sudden, he heard footsteps that grew louder and louder. As a tall blonde figure walked into the Secret Place, Squall let out a sigh of frustration, 'Damn it Zell!'

"Whoa! Sorry kiddies, I didn't mean to barge in like that!" Zell's face was turning red from holding back the laughter that tried to escape from his lips.

Rinoa turned around quickly after he finished his statement. "You know you wouldn't like it if i told you how red your ace is Zellie"

"You know...wait WHAAAAA-"

"Damn, I wish I had a mirror right now." Squall added.

Zell squinted his eyes and directed his glare toward his best friend. Squall just raised his eye brows and shrugged it off.

While they were occupied, Rinoa saw Selphie coming in and signaled her to squeeze the sides of Zell's stomach.

The petite girl stealthily made her way towards Zell and fulfilled her mission.

Zell jumped up and yelled out "WHAT THE -"before Selphie jumped infront of him.

"What was that for?!"

Selphie looked around and shrugged, "Oh, I don't know...maybe because you needed to stop glaring at your best friend."

"WHAT?!"

The young woman shook her head, "You're so slow."

Zell glared at her.

"Zell, is it 'glare day' today?" Rinoa said.

His mouth gaped and his hands were raised, palms facing upward, speechless.

"Oh, get a grip Zell, I swear you bring more drama than anyone else I know." Rinoa said.

Zell remained in his previous position.

"Oh, come on Zell, we're just kidding!" Selphie said.

There was a moment of silence after Selphie spoke.

"Well I've got to go..." Rinoa stated hesitantly.

"I'll go with you!!" Selphie told her friend with that bit of hyper energy that she always had.

Before they left, Rinoa moved toward Squall.

"Are you satisfied, now that I won't be alone in here?"

"Yes," Squall replied.

"Well, now that Zell is here you won't be alone either, so I guess we're even."

"Yeah," he said with a faint smile on his lips.

"Bye Squall, bye Zellie!" Rinoa said and winked at the blonde teenager.

"Bye Rinny!!" Zell retorted.

"Hey I'm not the one with the problem with my nickname 'kay," Rinoa said.

"You know, she does have a point." Squall told his friend."

"She does." Selphie added as she nodded her head.

"Alright I get it!!" Zell cried.

"We love you too!" Rinoa said before turning her back to leave with Selphie.

When they were completely out of sight, Zell felt it was safe to talk to Squall normally again.

"So...What happened?"

"What?" Squall asked curtly.

"Why were you and Rinoa here alone? Were you two romancing?"

"What?!"

"How come you were in here?"

"It's nothing." Squall said trying to seem nonchalant, which he was very good at.

"Uh huh."

"What? Nothing happened!" 'At least nothing you need to know...'

"Well, then why can't you tell me?"

"Because there's nothing of your interest that you need to know."

"Well just tell me!"

"Fine if it will get you off my back!"

"Yes, it will."

"I was in here, then i saw her running, and I stopped her. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me, she was terrified. I asked why she was in here alone, then she said 'I could ask you the same question' then i brought her in here, so she could wait for a bit, and calm down. Then you showed up, alright?"

"Are you sure that's it?"

"Yes."

"Well, okay."

They left the training center and went back to their dorms.


End file.
